Thursday, October 12, 2006

Boring Boring Boring thought twelve yr old Salma...She would rather have sat in her math class...but now all the kids from class four to class twelve were being made to attend some lectures by some NGO...she had already attended many of these lectures on saving the environment, cleaning the city campaigns etc and they were so boring that she would have happily attended those speed math classes which she hated. But these lectures were forced on them. They would be made to sit on the ground under the hot sun. Well whatever. Now that she had come to school she just couldn’t avoid it. She decided she would sit in the last row and have fun with naina...the lecture started at eleven sharp and was conducted by a lady in a red saree.."Children" she began "today I m going to deal with something really important and it is very important for u to know about this"...Yeah right!! Thought salma...that’s what they all said...but a tiny voice inside her told her to listen to this lady...

Two hours later the lecture got over and Salma decided she just could not do it. How could she?? How could she tell her mom something which she knew her mom would obviously not believe? But she felt disgusted and used. She had to tell someone about it and preferably a woman the lady had said. Her own sister whom she was extremely close to was away at college and this wasn’t something salma wanted to discuss over phone. Salma closed her eyes tightly as if trying to shut away the memory but the more she tried the harder the tears flowed down her cheeks. Her own uncle...My God!! How could he. She had trusted Ahmed mama so much.he was so much fun, bought her so many goodies and she had loved him so much.he used to make her laugh by tickling her and playing games with her. It was only when she was seven that she began to feel uncomfortable around him. He touched her in ways which made her squirm. But she had brushed those apart. After all it was Ahmed mama. He definitely wouldn’t do anything that would make her feel uncomfortable. But she started to maintain her distance. It was only after the lecture in school that she realized that those advances by Ahmed mama were really serious. What was it that the kind aunty in a red saree who had come from that NGO in the city to deliver the lecture had called such men?? Pedophile!! Yes that was it...ahmed mama was a pedophile and she was a victim of child abuse...she had not clearly understood the lecture but apparently there were certain ppl who derived pleasure by touching small kids(both boys and girls the lady had said) in ways that made the children feel disgusted and uncomfortable. They preferred small children because kids did not exactly know what was happening and were the most submissive. And the most shocking thing was that in most of the cases children are abused by people whom they trust. In some cases even their own daddies salma had learnt...her mind was in turmoil...she had to tell someone about it. But how could she tell ammi that her own brother was a padeophile?ahmed mama was coming today and the very thought of having to face him with a smile on her face sent shivers down her spine and she was filled with repulsion towards him..

No Salma decided. She would not suffer anymore. She had had enough. Today she would tell ammi...Determined she got up washed her face and walked into ammi’s room…

The above story is a true story with names changed for obvious reasons. Child abuse is a very very serious issue in the world today. And the most shocking part is that the majority (78%) of maltreated children were maltreated by their birth parents. Birth parents were responsible for 62% of the abuse cases and 91% of the neglect cases. Some children are even abused by both parents...lets all unite and fight against child abuse…please light a candle here… I don't know if it will really help but we can try and do our bit…

I remember reading revs' blog about your being "very angry" here (http://revsrules.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_revsrules_archive.html)...and I also found a link to the "blank noise project" on u'r blog...so, y not try something along those lines? I have been wanting to write about these topics for a while now...just haven't managed to find the time...anyway, this article by a guy is an interesting read (though in a slightly different context)...